Cropping in the viewfinder and shooting full frame is always best. When
I am forced to crop after the fact, I rarely agonize over the decision.
I do it quickly and instinctively in much the same way as I would in
the viewfinder. That seems to work best. I understand your problem with
birds. My longest prime is 400mm, and while I can sometimes get birds
full frame, it's hard to be that close all of the time. I sometimes use
a 2X converter, but it's tough to focus with the reduced brightness. I
think I'm going to look for a SX 1.4A converter. It sounds like you
understand the problem. So work on two things: Get as close as you can.
And when you have to crop after the fact, don't overthink it. Just do
it.
Paul
On Apr 10, 2006, at 5:53 PM, Tim Øsleby wrote:
Those of you reading the list lately may have noticed that I have a
project
going on, that forces me to explore some new land (read learn new
techniques).
How a beeeep should you avoid noticing that? With my endless ranting
questions ;-)
I have been talking about using longer lenses, building hides and so
on.
This has been great fun, and I am learning a lot about photography and
birds. My longest glass that is usable is 500mm (with converter it
tends to
be too soft), so I have to crop the pictures to make them interesting.
This has made me realise that I am a lot better at composing in
viewfinder
then I am with composing on computer screen. I have been thinking about
this. I have some ideas about why.
First:
It is that in the field I compose more on instinct. I am there, and I
have
emotions about the motifs. My heart is involved, and I believe that it
is my
heart that makes the composing decisions. Back at home, the motifs are
more
distant to me, so there I compose by brain (and as you know, that's
not much
of a brain).
The second reason has to do with the decisive moment:
When I shot slides my mind was in "capture mode" (sorry Shel, I know
you
don't like that word). When pushing the button I knew that what is in
frame,
stays in frame, and what is out of frame, stays out. (Everybody who has
tried masking slides in glassless frames, knows that you do everything
you
can to avoid that activity later).
Now, when shooting digitally, being forced to crop later something
happens
with my mindset. There is no decisive moment in post processing on
computer.
There is always possible to go back.
What I'm saying is that I think I need the decisive moment to make a
good
composition. I also need to be emotionally connected with the motif in
some
way.
But what do I do about this? Practise is one obvious answer. And I will
practise. But, I also have a strong belief in the power and wisdom of
this
list. I would really surprise me if it doesn't burp up some good ideas
and
advise.
Tim
Mostly harmless (just plain Norwegian)
Never underestimate the power of stupidity in large crowds
(Very freely after Arthur C. Clarke, or some other clever guy)
